Chapter 27
GRAYSON
“Tell me about the church.” I glanced in the rearview mirror at Micah, who’d spread out our paraphernalia all over the back seat of my SUV.
He nodded, flashing me a quick smile before his attention returned to his laptop screen.
In the passenger seat next to me, Ava exhaled unsteadily, and I slid my hand onto her tense thigh, stroking circles with my thumb.
Some of her tension melted away, but I could tell she was still on edge. We all were.
Fucking Cruz. Why did he have to get himself involved in this shit and make us worry about him?
When I glanced back at Micah again, he was chewing his lip, deep in thought as he studied his screen.
“I don’t get what that has to do with the shit Cruz is involved in,” I said finally.
“None of us do. A job’s a job?” Micah suggested.
Ava huffed out a breath. “I wish he wouldn’t be so careless with his own safety. Doesn’t he know he has people who care about him?”
“It’s not even about the location.” My jaw clenched as I thought about the way he had this cavalier fucking attitude, that he could handle his own shit.
And yeah, okay, he could handle himself.
But when he was making shady bargains, and his deals with Big Dog were getting dragged into the shit we were involved in, then we had a responsibility to step in.
Not to mention the apparent involvement of his uncle.
Then there was the photo, which I knew had shaken him, and it was another reason we were on this mission to keep an eye on him. We were gonna do whatever we could to protect him, whether he liked it or not.
The fact that he didn’t know we were following him was a bonus. I smirked to myself, thinking about how pissed off he’d be when he inevitably found out.
“So…boyfriends.” Ava broke the silence with forced brightness in her tone, attempting a change of subject. She twisted in her seat to look at Micah. “I still can’t believe you told your dad.”
He rolled his eyes, his gaze sliding to mine in the mirror. “I didn’t tell him.”
I gave him a wry smile. “It just came out. I didn’t like the way he was talking to you.”
Ava leaned into me, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Underneath that gruff hockey exterior, you have a heart of gold, don’t you?”
“Am I gruff?” I wondered aloud, and they both nodded instantly. Okay, then.
“So…you two are officially boyfriends. And I’m your girlfriend. Cruz’s girlfriend, too.”
My stomach gave a jolt at Ava’s matter-of-fact words. She’d just said aloud that she was ours. Releasing my hold on her thigh, I gripped the steering wheel tightly, staring straight ahead. “Do you mean that?”
“Yes. I thought you knew.”
I jerked my head. “I-I didn’t. Not for sure.” My voice betrayed me, coming out way too hoarse.
“Gray,” Micah said softly. “Pull over a second.”
Glancing in my mirrors, I did as he said, pulling over at the side of the road and flicking my hazard lights on. As soon as the SUV came to a stop, they were both there, taking turns kissing me, murmuring reassurances in my ears, and the whole time, my heart was fucking pounding out of my chest.
“We deserve some happiness,” Ava said. “No matter what we’re going through, we have each other.”
I swallowed hard, finally accepting her words. “Yeah. We do.”
When the GPS told us we were close to the church, I turned into a small industrial estate, tucking my SUV down the side of a warehouse building.
After locking Micah’s laptop securely in the trunk, we kitted ourselves out with some of the new equipment we’d bought.
Now was as good a time as any to test it, before we set our trap for our stalker.
While we were still waiting for some of it to be delivered, we had a tiny camera and hidden mics, all connected to apps on our phones that would record everything.
When we’d set our equipment up, we moved.
Our basic plan was that Ava and Micah would act like they were out for a casual morning walk, passing the church, and I’d come in from the opposite side and go around the back, jogging as if I were in the cooldown phase of a run.
Micah had the camera, but if I saw anything of interest when I was on my own, I’d record it on my phone.
We all had earbuds so we could stay in constant contact.
We were as prepared as we could be. It was overkill, if anything, but like I said, it was a trial run for our trap. I doubted we’d find anything of interest, and the main thing I was looking forward to was confronting Cruz, getting him all riled up.
Fuck. I had issues.
Whatever. I could deal with that later or never. Now it was time to find out what kind of shit Cruz was getting himself into.
“Gray! Stop!” Micah’s voice sounded in my ear. Immediately coming to a halt, I ducked in between two buildings, dropping into a crouch. If anyone passed me, which was unlikely this early in the morning, it would look like I was tying my shoelace.
“What’s wrong?”
“We’re too late. They’re leaving. Um…Cruz is leaving with some guys—”
He paused, and I heard Ava say, “Big Dog.”
“What— Fuck. I can run back to my car and follow them.”
“He’s getting into someone’s car. I don’t think you’ll make it in time. He— No. They’re gone.” The distant sound of squealing tires reached my ears, coming from my earbuds and somewhere to my left in tandem.
“Fuck. Okay. Is there anyone else still around?”
“There might be more people inside. I can see the church. The door’s open a bit.”
“Walk past slowly. I’ll come around the back.”
Decision made, I straightened up, jogging toward the white building I could see up ahead. The back was surrounded by a high wall with a locked gate, but I gave it a running jump, my hands gripping the top of the wall as I pulled myself up and over.
Belatedly, I realized my actions were completely reckless, because if anyone had been on the other side of the wall—or if there had been cameras around—then I would have been fucked.
As it was, the backyard of the church was silent and empty.
The glint of sun on colored glass caught my eye, and I tilted my head, studying the stained glass window in front of me.
It depicted a sunburst over water, and a scroll in the center of the sunburst with words written in a curling script.
From my position on the outside of the building, they appeared backward, but after staring at them for a moment, my brain processed them.
New horizons bring enlightenment.
My brows rose. Shaking my head, I turned away from the window so I could study my location.
There was a door in front of me, and a small path that ran alongside the wall, down the side of the church.
The path was probably the safest option, in case anyone caught me trespassing.
I had no explanation for why I was here, other than Cruz fucking Martinez was a giant pain in my ass and I was trying to stop him from acting rashly.
As far as excuses went, it probably wouldn’t go down too well with the churchgoers.
I moved toward the wall, pressing my back flat against it as I made my way to the side of the church.
There was a creak, and acting on instinct, I dived for the path. With my heart beating out of my chest, I peered around the corner.
A hooded figure stood with their back to me, talking to an unseen person who remained inside the church, their voice a low rasp.
“Now we have the goods…”
“…Yes. We will wait for the new moon…”
Icy coldness trickled down my spine. Carefully maneuvering my phone as close as I could, I listened. I could only make out one side of the conversation, but what I did hear set me on edge.
“…No, it needs to be fresh blood, freely given. One of the initiates would make a good candidate… Yes. The memorial sacrifice…”
“…Not here. It must be on sacred ground.”
The figure moved, stepping over to the wall opposite my hiding place and crouched down, facing away from me.
They suddenly straightened up and turned around, and I moved faster than I ever had, ducking back around the corner out of sight.
Over the pounding of my heart, I heard another creak, followed by the click of a lock.
“Gray? Two people are leaving. They’re locking the front door. Can’t see their faces. We didn’t want to get too close.”
I spoke quietly. “Okay. Head back to the SUV. I’ll meet you there.”
After waiting another couple of minutes, I moved from my hiding spot over to the place where I’d seen the hooded figure crouch down.
My eyes widened.
In front of me was a small pile of logs, carefully balanced on top of each other.
On top of the logs, tied securely with a length of twine, was a lock of blonde hair.
The end of the hair was dipped in crimson.
Blood.